Sunday, 10 May 2015

Next month we will be meeting again with the Avon Pension Fundto persuade them to divest their interests in fossil fuel companies. You can HELP US WIN by signing our petition (click here)!

The Avon Pension Fund is the local government pension scheme, with more than 100 employers, and over 90,000 people paying their pensions into it every month. They have a £3.3 billion endowment, a substantial amount of which is invested in coal, oil and gas companies. This will be our second meeting with the pension fund board members, and we plan to sway them with a petition of at least 1000 signatures from people who live in the area, and 10 letters from pension fund members. We currently have 178 signatures, so we REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!

If you (or someone you know) have a pension with Avon Pension Fund, then we would like to hear from you. Please email us fossilfreebristol@gmail.com. Do you know any Council workers? Teachers? Social workers? Fire fighters? They may have a pension with the APF. To see the full list of employers in the scheme CLICK HERE.

Do you currently work at one of these institutions? If so, we want to hear from you! Email us: fossilfreebristol@gmail.com. We are looking for people to join our photo campaign. Can you help us by taking a “selfie” showing your reason for signing? We would also be very grateful if you would ask your colleagues to sign our petition. Please let them know about our petition:

Our very own Richard Lawrence was in the Guardian "Money" section yesterday.

‘For our grandchildren’s futures, we can’t go on like this’. Former Bristol city council employee and grandfather Richard Lawrence freely admits he knows little about the ins and outs of pensions. Yet after witnessing the impact of climate change in Bangladesh and Nepal – and fearing the dramatic impact it will have on his grandchildren – he decided to tackle his pension fund, the giant £3.3bn Avon scheme, about its holdings in fossil fuel companies.

“I have seen some of the consequences of climate change first hand, and when I came back it just seemed like a no-brainer that fossil fuels have to be kept in the ground. I had to do something. I am a grandfather and, considering the future for my grandchildren, it is so obvious that we can’t go on like this.”...Read the full article here

More Divestment News

Church of England divests from dirtiest fossil fuels

Amazing news! The Church of England announced yesterday that it will divest its holdings of £12m in thermal coal and tar sands. This is a good step in the right direction and a huge win for the divestment campaign. A special shout-out to our faith campaigners in the UK!

350.org co-founder Bill McKibben commented: “This is the first great turnaround in the divestment fight, an institution which initially refused to move and then, in good Christian fashion, saw the light.

Much credit to the Church of England — they’re studying the signs of the times, as the Good Book says, and starting to show their concern for the poorest and most vulnerable parts of humanity and of creation!

Above all, I imagine, Desmond Tutu is pleased at this news, since the planet’s foremost Anglican was one of the foremost authors of this call to divest!“

A spokesperson said that the church feels a “moral responsibility to speak and act on both environmental stewardship and justice for the world’s poor who are most vulnerable to climate change”.

The new investment policy bans investments in any company makes more than 10% of its revenues from thermal coal and tar sands. The church still has huge investment in oil and gas companies.

The announcement explicitly leaves the door open for complete divestment from coal, oil and gas companies. The divestment movement will continue to push the church further, in line with climate science and justice.

At the Church of England general synod in July, divestment will be on the agenda. The diocese of Oxford and Birmingham will submit motions for divestment from all fossil fuel companies.